This is the blog for Network News - a Real Estate newsletter that features humourous commentary, editorials, profiles, case studies, advice, contests, and news. The goal of Network News is to create an online community to boost referral business and give you a chance to get to know other real estate professionals across the country. Each issue features submissions from different brokers and agents.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Realogy on track

What's in a name. More importantly how do you pronounce it. You know you've got a marketing genius screwing things up somewhere when a very senior executive of one Cendant's biggest assests isn't sure how to pronounce the name. Enough of my side bar.

Cendant Corp. remains on track to spin off its four businesses into independent publicly traded entities during the second and third quarters of this year, the company's chairman and chief executive, Henry Silverman, said Tuesday, according to reports.

During the company's investor day conference, Silverman said he doesn't anticipate any delays or roadblocks, barring some unforeseen external event, CBS MarketWatch reported.

"Obviously if the market shuts down for, say, bird flu or the SEC review process is elongated, hypothetically we could be delayed, but we don't expect either of these," Silverman said, according to reports.

Silverman said the company has analyzed thousands of contracts, relationships, systems and people to make sure the new companies will be fully functional on the day they're spun off, reports said.

The company's real estate company, Realogy, and its hotel company, Wyndham Worldwide, which represent about two-thirds of Cendant's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, will be spun off in the second quarter. The company had announced this move in February.

Silverman reiterated his belief that the spinoffs are in the best interest of shareholders, reports said. He said Cendant considered selling itself but found that "it was too big for financial buyers and too diverse for strategic buyers," according to reports.

However, Silverman doesn't rule out the individual companies being sold after they're spun off, reports said.

"After the spinoff, each of the four companies will be an independent company and will be free to evaluate any potential transaction that is presented to it on the merits of that transaction." he said, according to MarketWatch.

Is that a hint Mr. Silverman. Is there a buyer in the wing for one of these spinoffs. Time will tell.